Strait Dealer home first but Harry claims victory

If ever a race was to be given the title "a classic" then last weekend's International Yacht Paint double-handed round Malta race will definitely be one of them.

Before the race ever started, the RMYC managed to attract a record number of entries - 24. This augured well, both for the organisers and, most of all, for International Yacht Paint, the sponsors.

The wind forecast predicted a 15-knot breeze from the East. However, if the wind strength at the start was anything to go by, then all competitors knew that this was going to be a longer day than they all had expected.

Unfortunately, some boats retired when still in the waters off Marsam-xett Harbour... some just along the Grand Harbour breakwater. BOV Spring Series winner Mischief threw in the towel after just two hours of sailing.

The first turning mark was the Munxar Cardinal Buoy. Strait Dealer, followed by Elusive, Artie, Primadonna and Maltese Falcon, all turned close to each other.

The big surprise was Blue Fin, a Bavaria 36. The Gatt Floridia brothers worked a perfect tandem on board their cruising boat to keep up with the much faster racers at that stage of the race.

The second bunch of boats all shot down the coast with a fresh building breeze running their colourful spinnakers. At this stage, Harry was already in a perfect position as the boat was ahead of higher-rated ones.

Strait Dealer flew down the south coast, heading towards Filfla.

Another breeze came through and with it, the rest of the fleet. From then on, it was a game of trying to keep the boat in the breeze, not to over-run it and keeping a watchful eye on the competition.

The lead changed continuously with every gust of wind until the fleet passed Mtahleb. There, they found a steady offshore breeze as the boats headed towards Cirkewwa on their way home.

Once through the south Comino channel, the boats had a battle royale towards the finish line at the RMYC.

Falcon and Elusive match-raced the whole coastline while Strait Dealer was all alone at the head of the fleet. However, Strait Dealer's lead was not big enough and their final corrected time placed them at the bottom of the fleet.

The tacking duel between ten remaining boats continued until the finish line in Marsamxett. In the end, it was Harry that claimed the best corrected time overall. Myona was second overall and Maarial third.